Gaurav Gogoi's Pakistan links to be exposed before Jan-end: Assam CM
The state govt had constituted a SIT to probe the alleged interference of Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, who was claimed to have links with Gogoi’s wife.
A file image of CM Himanta Biswa Sarma
Guwahati, Jan 10: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said details of state Congress president Gaurav Gogoi’s alleged links with Pakistan would be made public by the end of this month.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a government programme at Goreswar, on Friday, Sarma said documents related to the allegations were being prepared.
“Our officers are working on it. Before February, in fact before the end of January, everything will be revealed,” he said.
The Chief Minister also targeted Gogoi over the British citizenship of his wife and children, claiming the people of Assam would not accept such a person in the “bor ghor” (revered place), an apparent reference to the chief minister’s post.
The BJP and Sarma have repeatedly attacked the Lok Sabha MP, alleging his wife Elizabeth Colburn has links with Pakistan’s spy agency ISI. Sarma said the delay in making the documents public was due to the death of cultural icon Zubeen Garg in September.
When asked whether the revelation would affect Gogoi’s prospects in the Assembly elections expected in March-April, Sarma said the issue went beyond elections. “Pakistan is our enemy country.
The question is not about contesting polls but whether someone can have links with that country,” he said, also questioning why Gogoi’s children’s citizenship had not been changed.
Later, addressing a press conference after a Cabinet meeting in Guwahati, Sarma said the state government had planned to disclose the information in September, but deferred it following Garg’s death on September 19.
The state government had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged interference of Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, who was claimed to have links with Gogoi’s wife, in India’s internal affairs.
The SIT submitted its report to Sarma, who holds the Home portfolio, on September 10.
Sarma said a clarification under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act from the Union Home Ministry was awaited, but added that the details would be made public even if it did not arrive.
“It is a big conspiracy. What we have is only the beginning,” he claimed.
Meanwhile, Gogoi has denied the allegations, calling them “ridiculous, baseless and nonsense,” and accused Sarma of behaving like an “IT cell troll” without facts.
PTI